New AdvaMed Chairman Outlines Group’s Agenda

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), held a conference call on April 19 to introduce the new chairman of the board David Dvorak. Dvorak is CEO of Zimmer Holdings Inc.

Dvorak is no stranger to the Washington, D.C.-based industry trade group. He has served AdvaMed in various capacities during the past 10 years. He has been an active member of the board since 2006 and has served as the chair of the association’s orthopedics sector since 2004. For the past two years he chaired AdvaMed’s Payment & Health Care Delivery Committee, where he led the association’s efforts to ensure that new payment delivery programs—such as accountable care organizations and bundling systems—support medical innovation and preserve patient/physician choice.

Dvorak began the call by giving a rundown of his vision for the association for the next three years.

He highlighted the importance of:

• Preserving patient access to medical technology;
• Working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to improve efficiency; and
• Repealing the current U.S. government administration’s medical device excise tax.

He then articulated his intent for the association to:

• Increase operational presence in international markets, particularly in India and China;
• Increase in-house research so AdvaMed can be armed with data-driven analysis of market and industry behavior; and
• Listen to patients to learn what they need most.

Dvorak said it was particularly important to “move beyond the beltway (Washington, D.C.) and listen to patients to better understand what they need.”

When asked, Dvorak clarified that these goals are extensions of what is already in place within AdvaMed, rather than brand new initiatives. He also said that any new in-house research will be made as public as possible in the interest of transparency.

Dvorak expressed a sense of unity with the global medtech industry. “All governments are facing the same problems,” he said. “Aging populations, chronic disease, economic issues. I see the medical technology industry as a solution, as it promotes public health.”